Skittles
by dancedon'tdance
Summary: Eren's admired a senior for months, doesn't know his name, age, or even what classes he takes. All he knows is that every friday from 11:10 - 12:40 he sits on the same bench, alone. So what better way to break the ice than to throw skittles at his crush? College AU Ereri. Fluffy with a hella load of angsty backstory (because what Ereri would be complete without it?)
1. Chapter 1

_'_ _their relative positions at successive cross sections of the flow passage in the laminar flow. There is no transverse displacement of fluid-'_ Levi had nearly completed his essay. He had less than a paragraph to go exactly; when some brat decided to interrupt him by poking him on the shoulder. He hated being poked. He glared up at the figure that was now blocking the sun.

"What?" he demanded. The tall figure just smiled down at him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he said gesturing to the free space on the bench next to Levi. "Everywhere else is full." The kid said in an annoyingly happy tone. Levi scanned the quad, desperate for any other place to be available so he could tell the kid to fuck off over there. But… no such luck.

The shorter student let out an annoyed grumble. "Do whatever you want, s'not my bench." He snapped as the kid happily sat down next to Levi, making the bench wobble precariously as he did so. Levi shot an annoyed glare in the kid's direction before continuing with his essay.

He'd only written about two more sentences since he was first interrupted when the kid decided to speak to an already annoyed Levi… again. "Why aren't you writing in the library? Most people do their homework in there." Levi slammed his pen down in annoyance and looked over at the kid who was now slumped with his stupidly long legs straight out in front of him, blocking the walkway, "I like working out in the sun." Levi muttered, not even sure himself why he was talking to this kid.

The short burst of conversation had seemed to shut him up for the time being. Levi took full advantage of the silence and quickly finished his essay. He neatly organised his pages into his biology folder before getting his planner out to see what essay he needed to do next. ' _One down, three to go'_ he internally groaned. "I'm Eren by the way!" The kid – Eren – obviously couldn't keep quiet for more than five minutes. "And I'm busy!" Levi shot back getting his chemistry folder out of his bag and replacing it with his biology one. "What sort of name is that? Your parents obviously weren't that creative." Levi rolled his eyes at Eren's lame attempt at humour and continued to ignore him as he started planning his chemistry essay.

Not even ten minutes later and Levi was interrupt by the insistent rustling and crackling of what sounded like a wrapper. He glared across at Eren who noticed and gave his grumpy companion a sheepish smile, making his lip piercing stick out. ' _huh how didn't I notice that'_ Levi mused. "I can never get these open," Eren explained gesturing to the bag of skittles in his hands. "Give the damn things here!" Levi growled before snatching them out of the kid's hand. He ripped the mangled top (well done Eren) off and practically threw the bag back to Eren who quickly caught them, trying not spill any, while chuckling at the same time. "Cheers man!" he said before delving in and throwing one in his mouth.

Levi literally had no clue why the kid was still here, it wasn't like they were engaging in pleasant conversation, and in fact Levi was being an ass. Yet, here he still was putting up with Levi's moodiness and grinning while he did it. Something must be wrong with the kid. Levi didn't understand, he drove everyone away who sat within a ten foot radius of him… there was a reason why his bench was the only one free. He was interrupted from his thoughts by his arm being gently tapped again. His head whipped up from his abandoned essay. "Do you want one man?" Eren was now leaning against the arm of the bench with one leg propped up and the other dangling down. With the sun on his eyes Levi could see that they weren't just green like he's thought they were, they were a mixture of green and blue and even a hint of yellow. This kid's eye colour reminded Levi of the sea. "Dude?" Levi shook his head and looked at the bag of sweets in the kid's hand. "No thanks, never had one." He checked the time on his watch and decided that as his study break was nearly over, there really wasn't any point of trying to start his essay. He glanced up, surprised that Eren was still quiet and was met by the kids shocked face, "You what?" Eren had his mouth hanging open and almost whispered his question. Levi sighed heavily. "I'm not repeating myself." He put his chemistry folder away and got his planner out to make a quick note of what essay he had started. "I heard what you said but I just... you've never had a skittle? Like ever?" the kid sounded like Levi had told him that he didn't need to breathe or something. "No never, why is that such a big deal?" Eren looked taken aback and Levi realised that it was the first time since meeting him that the kid wasn't smiling. "because they're _skittles_! Dude, getting to college and never having a _skittle_ is like saying you've never eaten a Poptart or snuck into a movie theatre or swam in a lake!" Levi smirked at the look on the kids face and blew a piece of hair out of his eye. The frustration on Eren's face was quite amusing. "Well... Now you mention it, I've never had or done any of those things." He deadpanned, causing Eren to choke because he gasped too quickly, which ended in him having a coughing fit. Levi just ignored it, gleeful that he'd managed to make the kid speechless.

He was putting his planner away when something hit him or the side of the head. "the fuck?" his head whipped round to Eren who was sat there eating his damned sweets with a shit eating grin on his face. "Whatever you just did, don't fucking do it again, ok?" Levi's voice was cold, he was annoyed that he couldn't work out if his bench... companion had thrown something at him or pinched him. "Ow! Fucking quit it!" lost in his thoughts, Levi hadn't noticed Eren turn his attention to him. "Did... did you just throw a fucking skittle at me?" Levi was astonished at the balls of this kid. Eren just looked away from Levi and grinned while trying to throw another one of those stupid fucking multicoloured sweets into his mouth but it bounced off of his lip ring which made Levi snigger. He felt his phone start ringing in his pocket so he fished it out without moving his glare away from the kid sat next to him who was feigning innocence. "What?" he demanded when he saw who was calling. "Well me and Erwin were let out early and we've been sat here watching you and that cutie-patootie flirt-" Levi felt his glare deepen as he swept the quad for his dumb ass friends. "- and we were wondering when we could come over and meet your future husband?" Levi was still scanning his surroundings and Eren obviously saw this as an opportunity and launched a whole handful of sweets at Levi who let out a few choice expletives and restrained himself from hitting the kid next to him. Eren was doubled over laughing next to him and he could hear Hanji's cackle, both from the call and being echoed round the quad. "Get your asses over here so we can go to lunch - which you're paying for." he hung up and waited for his stupid friends to come over. "Have one! Mr And-I'm-Busy!" Eren giggled - yes giggled, Levi couldn't believe his ears, it was oddly fitting though - ' _why the fuck not?'_ Levi thought to himself. He held his hand out expectantly after making a huge show of rolling his eyes. Eren looked shocked but hurriedly passed one to Levi, almost dropping the whole bag in the process. Levi suppressed a smile at the bumbling idiot next to him. A green one was placed into his hand. His favourite colour. Not this shade exactly, more like... more like an ocean green. His eyes unthinkingly flickered to meet the eyes of the excited kid next to him. Levi scoffed and cleared his head of any potential soppy or _emotional_ thoughts entered his head. Those kind were very unwanted to Levi. "Go on, try it! I swear it's not poisoned or anything!" A gleam of childish playfulness shone in Eren's eyes which caused Levi's mouth to turn up in the corners. Levi stopped it immediately. That was too close to a smile. He popped the sweet in his mouth just as shitty glasses and bushy brows eventually appeared. Levi was pleasantly surprised. The sweet actually tasted really good. He hated to think of the amount of sugar in this one tiny sweet but he tried not to obsess over the idea. Levi heard Hanji sequel and looked over to Eren who was wearing a mask of amusement and terror as this tall crazy person bounded over to him and squashed his cheeks together, all the while smiling his radiant smile that could never seemed to be wiped off his face for too long no matter what the fuck Levi - or anyone else for that matter - did to him. "Leave the kid alone four eyes!" Levi said in his monotonous voice, secretly hoping that Hanji didn't scare the kid off. Levi had gotten this far and he was intrigued by this ocean eyed brat. "I mean no harm Levi! Oh my gosh, you are just the most adorable! Isn't he adorable Erwin? Of course he is, you don't need to answer that. Oh my how I'd love to study you - I mean observe - I mean _hang out_ with you more!" Eren looked towards Levi for help but he just smirked to the younger one in return. Eren looked completely lost and it was honestly fucking hilarious. ' _good'_ Levi thought to himself ' _instant karma for being so fucking annoying for the last half hour!'_ Levi sat back and watched with amusement clearly dancing in his eyes.

"err my names Eren, it's nice to meet you?" he said questioning himself as he said it. Levi felt a little bit sorry for the kid, but as long as the babbling wasn't directed towards him, he didn't give a shit. " _It's nice to meet you._ Oh aren't you just the cutest! I could just eat you up!" Hanji was almost vibrating with excitement. She didn't meet new people too often. Erwin decided to be the gentlemen and pried Hanji off Eren. Levi suppressed an annoyed groan. He was just starting to enjoy himself. "I'm Erwin, it's nice to meet you Eren." The kid in question looked relieved to be talking to a seemingly normal human being. "You too man!" Levi had had enough of this shit fest and he was hungry. "Lets go before Hanji shits herself with excitement." He quickly shouldered his bag as Erwin steered Hanji away from the kid. Levi hung back quickly, unsure of why he was. "My name's Levi by the way brat." he sounded bored when he said it but in actual fact his insides felt like he needed a huge dump. He didn't know why, he was just telling some brat his fucking names for gods sake. But when Eren gave gave him a beaming smile in return, the weird feeling didn't leave.

Levi awkwardly nodded and turned to leave when Eren's voice stopped him. Levi whipped around to come face - to - face, well, face - to - neck with Eren. He huffed out an annoyed sigh and took a step back so he didn't have to crane his neck that much. He could see Eren trying not to smile and it didn't piss Levi off as much as he thought it would. "same time next week?" Eren said with his signature shit eating grin on his face. Levi rolled his eyes and turned to walk away but not before saying "Don't push your luck kid." He caught up with his friends with Eren's carefree laughter still ringing in his ears...

But secretly he was positively fucking giddy for next week, and he had no idea what to make of that.


	2. Chapter 2

Eren's POV

"Mikasa! Armin! Hey!" Eren saw his friends heads whip round. "Eren! What are you doing here? You know you can't be seen here!" His sisters face changed from shock to worry. Eren internally rolled his eyes "Well hello to you too!" He said, his voice laced with sarcasm. He felt a bit put out because after an hour long bus ride to come and see his friends, he would have appreciated a warmer welcome. Armin nudged Mikasa and smiled pointedly at a very pissed off looked Eren. "Hi Eren! It's so nice to see you here... but please don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Eren didn't mind his blond friends curiosity, Eren wasn't meant to be on college property after all.

Eren shrugged off the feeling of annoyance and showed a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm here to take you guys to lunch as a thank you." Eren was once again met with confused looks from his friends. "A thank you for what Eren?" Mikasa asked slowly. She sounded suspicious, but Eren couldn't blame her, he only said 'thank you' whenever he wanted something or had done something wrong. "For paying my share of the rent, for groceries and for being the adults in this friendship." Eren was really grateful for all his friends do for him. They were the parents he never really got. He freely admitted that he had been stupid with his last paycheck and Mikasa and Armin had to step in and help him out... again. Ever since they'd started living together, Mikasa and Armin matured almost instantly but Eren on the other hand... well he'd just stayed being Eren, much to the frustration of his friends.

"How can you afford to buy us lunch Eren?" Mikasa questioned, she was always cautious when it came to Eren and money, especially after last time... Eren visibly shuddered but his smile never left his face, although it didn't have the vibrancy it usually does. "Work gave me a bonus for doing some little jobs on the side and overtime... y'know the usual sorta stuff." Eren had his fingers crossed behind his back and was praying that his friends didn't see straight through his lie. Well... it wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Armin's ocean blue eyes swam with worry. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again. Eren fought the urge to roll his eyes and bit back a sarcastic comment that his blonde friend certainly didn't deserve. "But before you ask, I've paid you both back all the money I owe and I've set aside some money for the next three months for rent." Eren was very proud of himself for thinking so... maturely, the thought of him being a mature functioning adult almost made him shudder again. He could see Armin's mind quickly adding everything up that Eren had just listed. "Eren... that means you got paid over £250 as a bonus! Why did they give you _that_ much money?". Eren looked between Armin's concerned face and Mikasa's suspicious expression and he started to get angry. His fingers twitched, wanting to curl into fists. Why couldn't they just be happy? This was the most responsible thing he had done for a while and they just _had_ to question it all. He felt his rage melt away to guilt. How could he be angry when he was straight up lying to his best friends faces? "It doesn't matter." He said through gritted teeth, finally answering Armin's question. He instantly regretted his abrupt reply because he knew it would just lead to more questions. He spun on his heel and called over his shoulder "C'mon do you want free food or not?" He didn't bother to listen if his friends were even following him.

They were sat in a booth in 'Josie's Diner' and were just waiting for their order. They regularly visited this place whenever Mikasa and Armin had a free either before or after lunch. Eren was getting sick of his friends shared worried glances so he quickly said "I found out _his_ name today." Armin gasped in excitement and some of the suspicion fell out of Mikasa's face and was replaced with an emotion that Eren had never seen on his sister's face. He just couldn't pin point what it was exactly. "Oh my gosh Eren! Tell us everything! When? How? What is his name?" Armin was now leaning across the table and was grasping Eren's arm in a surprisingly strong grip. "ow dude, calm down!" Eren laughed as he pulled his arm away. He looked round at the mostly empty tables round them before answering his blonde friends questions. "When I came to wait for you; I sat next to him on a bench outside the library and I er..." Eren let out a nervous laugh as he remembered what he had done to finally grab the older students attention. "I threw skittles at him after trying to make conversation." He rushed out the last sentence and covered his flushed face with his hands. He couldn't actually believe he had thrown _skittles_ at Levi. Skittles! He heard a quiet chuckle of laughter and looked up to see his sister hiding her face in the scarf he had given her when they'd first met. It meant a great deal to Eren that she never took it off. He felt a smile break out on his face as the tension between the three friends broke as they all dissolved in a fit of laughter. A breathless Armin finally managed to get out "You threw skittles at the person you're basically in love with to find out his name!" He shook his head in disbelief. "You never fail to surprise me bro." Mikasa mumbled, fondly ruffling Eren's hair. He tutted in annoyance and immediately reached up to fix it back into its organised mess.

The three friends had finished off their meals in a comfortable silence, the previous tension seemingly forgotten about. It was only as they were waiting at the bus stop with Eren that Mikasa decided to speak up again. "Please be careful with him Eren." The man in question swung round to face his sister. Confusion clearly written all over his face. "What are you on about Mikasa?" She looked uncomfortable and glanced towards Armin for support but he looked just as lost as Eren. "I've heard stories... about Levi. None of them are that good to be honest and I just don't want you to end up hurt." Eren took a step back as he studied his sister. "I've only just found out his name today Mikasa! We're not planning on eloping anytime soon! And if you've heard so many 'stories' about him, why haven't you mentioned anything before?" He said sounding taken aback and quite offended at what his sister was suggesting. Mikasa looked quite upset and Eren rarely saw her like that but he just didn't care at that moment. "I just... please watch yourself Eren, that's all I ask." He rolled his eyes and turned away from her, he could feel his hands shaking and tried to remember what his therapist said to do when he felt uncontrollably angry. He bit his lip to hold back any comments his brain was yelling at him to make and he thanked whatever God was looking over him today because his bus soon swung into view and he didn't need to take part in anymore rage inducing conversation with his sister. He turned back to Armin and saw un-shed tears in his eyes, making the blue swim. Eren felt his anger soften, he hated to see his friends cry, especially someone as kindhearted as Armin. "Will you be at home when we get there?" His voice wobbled as he tentatively asked Eren his question. The taller friend shrugged "I don't know, Eld said he'd try and finish my sleeve today and I don't know how long that'll take but I'll text you when I'm coming home, ok?" Armin nodded and bit his lip and Eren took that as his sign to leave so he turned on his heel without a second glance towards his sister and plonked himself down on the closest seat free after giving the driver his ticket.

Not long after his friends had faded out of view, he thought about what Mikasa had 'warned' him about. Eren outwardly scoffed at such a stupid thought. ' _What was there to warn about? He didn't even know the guys last name for gods sake!'._ After a while of arguing with himself, Eren huffed unhappily and slumped down in his seat, willing the bus journey to pass by quickly.

Eren was in an absolutely foul mood when he stepped into the tattoo parlour where he worked... well where he had an apprenticeship to be more specific. He enjoyed working here and was more than happy to do over time. Drawing had always been the one and only thing he was able to concentrate on for a long time. He hadn't done well at school and was kicked out of college with barely six months of going there under his belt. So when his therapist, Dr Pixis, had suggested an apprenticeship in his friends tattoo parlour, Eren focused on achieving this more than he had anything before. There were two other apprentices alongside Eren. There was Ymir who was a couple of years older than Eren, she was a serious girl but was very dedicated to the things she cared about. The other one was Connie, who was Ymir's literal polar opposite, he was rarely seen without a smile on his face and even when he was being serious, there was an underlying hint of a joke. Eren got along very well with both of them, and he considered them close friends.

Eld greeted him as he stormed through the work room door. Eld was a laid back boss yet he didn't take crap from anybody. (He also gave his employees free tattoos when he had the time which made Eren's opinion of him a bit biased.) "You good Jeagar?" Eld looked up towards where his youngest apprentice was pouring himself a coffee, practically radiating anger. "Peachy." Eren muttered drily. Eld knew all about the kids past (thanks to Pixis) but didn't hold it against him because Eren was the best damn artist he had on his team and he had never seen the kid do anything that lived up to the actions in his past. Eld was all about forgive and forget if the person deserved it and boy did Eren deserve to be cut some slack sometimes. "Shall we get on with your sleeve then?" Eren grunted in response and yanked his shirt off, leaving himself in his t-shirt, before throwing it in a corner and storming out to his usual chair. Eld sighed and picked the kids shirt before hanging it neatly on the back of the chair he was just sitting on before following him out.

After about fifteen minutes of working in silence - even with prompts of conversation from Eld- Eren finally spoke up. "Where are the others?" Eren had only just noticed that the rest of the shop was silent and empty - save for Fall Out Boy blasting from the speakers (on of Eren's favourites) and the buzz of the needle - Eld shifted uncomfortably and dabbed at the fresh ink on Eren's forearm. His arm was feeling slightly numb by now but he was never one to complain about tattoos, they never really hurt him as much as it did others. "Er... well your blonde friend Arnie?" Eld wasn't that familiar with Eren's friends "Armin." Eren corrected, staring down at the needle driving into his skin. "Right, Armin, well he called the shop about an hour before you turned up and said you were mad and to keep and eye on you basically, so I sent the others home and closed up shop; we didn't have any appointments booked in until four so we weren't gonna miss out on anyone." Eld muttered, still focusing on the tattoo in Erens' arm. Eren felt a small smile take place on his face. Of course Armin was going to think about that, he was always the practical friend and probably hated Eren storming off when he was mad. "Thanks Eld, that's really nice." The older man, never one for many words, shrugged in reply. "You're working a full day tomorrow though and you're taking over for me tonight." Eld quickly got in, sensing that Eren's mood had calmed rapidly. Eren chuckled at that. "That's cool with me."

After and hour and a half, his arm was finally finished. It had taken months of Eren and Eld's free time and artistic skills, but Eren was absolutely in love with it. "Holy shit Eld!" he exclaimed while admiring it in the mirror. "You're a bloody genius!" Eld smiled at the compliment and continued to tidy up his work station. Eren admired the swirls of the stars and the nebula that twisted down his arm as he expertly wrapped it up. He'd always had a deep fascination of space and this tattoo was so meaningful to him. The moon on his shoulder reminded him of the times he and his mum would sit in the back garden making up stories about the man on the moon and how the stars got in the sky. He was interrupted by Eld clearing his throat. Eren looked up to see the elder standing there with his coat in his hands. "I'm off now but you've only got one appointment, a new girl, you might be able to start on her tattoo by today but y'know what some people are like with the designs." Eren nodded a thanks and said goodbye and he followed Eld to the door and flipped the sign over to 'welcome' hoping that whoever it was, took forever to decided because he really did not fancy going home.


	3. Chapter 3

Levi's POV

"This is what you dragged me to town for?" He tutted and glared at his bespectacled friend. He hated town with a passion. The ridiculously long car ride was bad enough as it is but paired with the huge swarms of people and it was just Levi's nightmare. She smiled innocently. "I want to get a tattoo and I want my best friend to be there with me while I do it!" He tsk'd and angrily muttered under his breath which Hanji took as a sign of defeat and dragged Levi into the "Titan Tattoo's" shop which they'd been arguing in front of. He loved tattoos but had never thought highly of actual tattoo shops. He knew how stupid it sounded but he'd seen people with fucked up tattoos because of poor hygiene standards and he'd told himself time and time again that it just wasn't worth it. But as soon as they walked in Levi was taken aback, sure the music was loud but it was the sort of pop punk he liked, it seemed extremely clean and not at all what he was expecting. He glanced around and admired the work of art on the walls. Levi had always admired tattoo artists, they had a skill and patience that Levi had never possessed.

He walked up to the counter where Hanji was vibrating with excitement. "Calm down shitty glasses, you'll scare them off." She just playfully glared at him but couldn't keep it up for long. A tall figure walked out of what seemed to be the staff room and Levi felt his eyes widen a little bit but he quickly narrowed them into his usual glare. Hanji obviously recognised the boy as well "Eren! Hi! Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?" Levi had thought that she couldn't of gotten anymore excited... but he was proven wrong. Eren flushed slightly and looked a bit out of his depth. It was only then that Levi realised how tight Eren's t-shirt was and how his tattooed arms seemed to suit him perfectly and how- he shook his head and cut his dangerous thoughts off. "I, er, I'm going to be the one tattooing you if that's ok?" Eren timidly asked his question. Neither Levi nor Hanji could control their shock. "You?" Levi sneered, not believing that this kid - who was younger than him may he add- was good enough to tattoo anyone let alone Levi's friend. Eren's back straightened and he raised his chin defiantly. "Yes me. I have an album of my work if you want me to prove my worth?" Eren cocked an eyebrow and his voice was just dripping with sarcasm. Levi admired this kids balls. Hanji giggled breaking the little staring contest Levi was having with Eren. "It's not that I don't believe you but can I see your work anyway? I'm just really intrigued about you." Eren's glare softened as he looked at the crazy woman standing next to Levi "Sure! Follow me to my work station and I'll dig it out. Do you think you'd wanna make a start on your tattoo today" He walked through a door which was just to the right of the one he had just come out of and gestured for the odd pair to follow him through it. Hanji squealed "Of course Eren! That would be amazing!" Levi shook his head at her over enthusiasm. They walked through a small hallway with even more drawings littered over them, but instead of being on paper they were drawn straight on to it. Levi forced himself to keep walking because he found himself transfixed by them all.

He caught up with Hanji and Eren's bounding strides while cursing their stupidly long legs as he did so. They emerged into a wide brightly lit room which had about six work stations set up through out. Each seemed to have different drawings and colours in the area surrounding it. "Oi brat! What's with the different colours?" Eren glanced over his shoulder at Levi who was still staring round the room. He was one for organisation, he wouldn't be caught dead without his planner but he could appreciate this organised mess. It was... quirky. "Everyone has a different work station so they're allowed to do what they want with it. The apprentices aren't usually allowed to 'coz they have to share work stations with the senior members." Levi accepted that answer and fell back into his normal silence. Eren gestured to a sofa in the back corner next to a chair and a desk. "Take a seat, I'll find those pictures for you." Hanji happily sat down but Levi fully inspected the leather seat but seeing nothing wrong with it, as well as the faint smell of disinfectant lingering in the air, he decided to trust it and hesitantly sat down besides Hanji. "This is fate Levi! You're meant to be!" She loudly whispered. All through lunch, Hanji (and occasionally Erwin but he soon took pity on him) had been saying how 'perfect Levi and Eren were going to be together' and 'how it was just meant to be'. She had only stopped after Levi had launched across the table to shove two bread sticks up her nostrils. Levi's glare deepened and he elbowed his shitty friend in the ribs. She just brushed it off and cackled, her eyes twinkling in a way that Levi knew couldn't mean anything good. Eren soon came back plonked a huge photo album on the table in front of them. Hanji quickly grabbed it and flicked through them all with a manic grin on her face. From what Levi could see, this kid was good. Talented even. "How long have you been working here?" Hanji asked. Eren quickly worked it out "Er about eight months or so?" It seemed that everything this kid said came out as a question, maybe he was just easily made nervous. "Eight months and you've tattooed all of these people?" Hanji sounded impressed and that rarely happened now that Levi thought about it. Eren nodded, seemingly becoming more relaxed the more they chatted. "Ok I trust you Eren!" She suddenly exclaimed slamming the book shut, making Levi jump. ' _Shitty glasses'_ he thought to himself, his glare deepening but he let go some of his anger when he heard Eren giggle. "I'm glad to hear that Hanji, do you know what you want to have done?" He got up and put the album back on the shelf above the desk. She launched into the elaborate speech of what she wanted to have done and Eren listened intently, asking questions when necessary. "Ok so I'm gonna draw out the basics of what you want but I usually like to freehand the detail, is that ok?" Hanji nodded gleefully and clapped her hands in delight. "If either of you two want a drink or anything, the kitchen is trough the hallway we walked through and to the right... just please don't tell my boss." He let out a nervous giggle and rearranged his notebook on his lap so it was more comfy and he got to work. "I'm going to get some water, do you want anything Levi? Of course you don't, stupid question, my bad." with her outburst she flounced off and left Levi and Eren alone. Levi found himself studying the full sleeve tattoo the younger male had on his right arm. It was a space scene and he begrudgingly admitted to himself that it was magnificent. There was so much detail in it that Levi couldn't believe it was on someones skin, there was some sort of wrap round it so he could only assume that it was finished recently. "Is she always like that?" Erens voice startled him and Levi head whipped up but to his relief Eren was too focused on his drawing to of seen Levi checking his arms out. "Who shitty glasses? Yeah she's actually being quite tame around you." Levi snorted and Erens eyebrows shot up but his eyes never left the page. "I thought you said apprentices didn't get their own work station?" Eren smiled modestly and his face flushed slightly. "My boss... my boss says I'm the best artist he has on his team. He wants me to take over the business someday." Eren looked almost embarrassed to say it and although Levi wouldn't show it, he was impressed with what the kid had achieved at such a young age. But he just stuck with making a non-committal noise in the back of his throat in response. Hanji finally came bustling back into the room with two glasses of water and a knowing smirk on her face. "I didn't know if you wanted anything Eren so I just got you some water!" He smiled up at her and analysed his drawing before holding it up for her inspection. She gently took the sketchbook out of his hands and ran a hand over it lightly. "Eren... I love it!" She said in a moment of sober happiness. Levi tried to crane his neck to see what he had drawn but she held it out of his sight before he could get a good look. "Nah uh uh, not until it's done!" She sung at the shorter man pissing him off again. "You drag me all the way out here and won't even let me see if it was worth it?" he said, his voice dangerously level. Eren decided to intervene with a nervous chuckle, seeing the terror growing on Hanji's face. He faced Levi and looked him in the eyes. "Trust me, if it's one of my tattoos it will be worth it." He said with the most confidence Levi had heard from him. "You sound pretty sure of yourself kid." Eren shrugged as he walked over to the chair and motioned for Hanji to sit down. She practically flew over to the seat and made herself comfy. "Tattooing is the one thing I know how to do well." Eren said honestly but there was still a hint of sadness in his voice. Levi thought that had some hidden meaning or something but he really wasn't about to delve into this kids traumas. It was nothing to do with him anyway.

"Shit!" Eren stopped as he was transferring the trace onto Hanji's lower stomach. Of all the places to get a first tattoo, Hanji had picked on of the most painful but it's what she wanted and even though Eren was unsure he had to go along with it. "What's the matter Eren? Did you mess up? It's ok if you did, I forgive you!" Hanji said earnestly which lead to a grateful smile on Eren's part. "No, it's all fine but I'm really sorry do you mind if I quickly call my friend, I was meant to ages ago and-" Levi cut him mumbling off with a wave of his hand "Shut up stammering, kid. Shitty glasses can wait.". Eren looked relieved and took off one of his plastic gloves to get him phone out of his pocket. Levi looked down at his friend and saw her suggestively wiggling her eyebrows at him. He pinched her on the arm causing her to yelp and giggle. _'fucking crazy'_ Levi thought to himself. He didn't meant to but he listened to Eren's conversation who was on one of the other chairs in the room. "Hi Armin? Yes I'm fine... Yeah Eld finished my sleeve and it's amazing! Mum would love it." He sounded sad when he said this and Levi couldn't help but wonder about the kids mum. But the tone of the conversation suddenly shifted and Eren sounded angry. "I don't give a crap if Mikasa's sorry! You either Armin! I actually did something responsible for a change and you both shit all over it!... Yeah I thought we were past it too... Later... No I'm not staying out on purpose, I actually have a customer then I might meet up with Connie." A strange feeling raced through Levi's gut when he heard the kid think about hanging out with someone else. Levi just put it down to needing a shit. "Armin, I'm hanging up, don't wait up for me... Bye!... Jesus, yes I love you guys too Armin, honestly I'm fine ok?... ok?... bye." Eren finally hung up the phone and sighed into his hands before putting a smile back onto his face and making his way over to the very intrigued pair. Levi knew that he could keep his mouth shut about hearing the phone call but he wasn't sure that his nosy friend would be able to.

It took exactly twenty seven minutes and fifteen seconds into having the tattoo done before Hanji brought up the subject of the phone call. "Who's Armin?" she asked, wincing from the pain slightly. Levi was sat the opposite side to Eren and the tattoo and was unfortunately within arms reach of Hanji so when something really hurt, his arm was the first to be squeezed. "He's one of my best friends, more like a brother actually, we basically grew up together." He mumbled it, clearly not wanting to break his air of concentration. "and Mikasa? A girlfriend?" Hanji said, curiosity filled eyes slid to Levi and back towards Eren again causing the raven haired man to tut and roll his eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Eren scoffed "God no! She's my sister... well, adopted sister, She came into my life around the same time Armin did so we're all very close." He nodded to himself happy with the work he was doing on Hanjis tattoo. "You said home? Do you all live together?" Levi growled his annoyance under his breath, knowing that poking Hanji now could potentially lead to a very messy death (well... maybe not but his worry was still there). He didn't want Hanji's questions to make Eren angry again, that didn't seem right. "Yeah we do, after... certain events, They thought it'd be financially and, well, emotionally beneficial if we all moved in together." Hanji nodded, seemingly done with her questions. But Levi knew that wouldn't last long.

Three hours later and the damned tattoo was finally finished. Levi was so bored it was unbelievable. Eren was wiping it over with some sort of disinfectant Levi assumed. He wasn't exactly an expert with tattoos. "I'm done. If you want to go over to the mirror and take a look?" The shitty brat was back to being all nervous again now that the tattoo was over. He really was out of his comfort zone without a needle in his hand. Levi smirked at the thought. Hanji gasped and Levi was very curious to see if that was a good or bad gasp. "Holy shit." He muttered when he caught sight of the tattoo - no scratch that- masterpiece that was now inked into his best friends (but don't tell Hanji that) skin. It was a small arrangement of highly detailed red roses with purple pansy dotted around. He saw the delicate scribe of 'Maria' in between all of the flowers and he instantly knew how much this tattoo signified to his crappy friend. Besides the meanings and colours of the flowers (something Hanji had taught him and he didn't exactly hate) the fact Hanji had her mothers name tattooed onto her showed Levi that the visit was completely worth it. "Oh my god Eren. Thank you! It's even better then I could have ever hoped for!" She walked back over to Eren and pulled him into a tight hug, but was still mindful of the art on her stomach. "You are now officially one of my best friends Eren!" She exclaimed, pulling him tighter into her. Levi rolled his eyes at the kids obviously mortified expression. She pulled back and looked Eren dead in the eyes "I have a very serious question for you Eren." Her voice had dropped from wavy and emotional to deadly serious in a matter of moments and even Levi didn't know what his friend was going to ask. He was ready to hurl his phone at the back of her head to shut her up if it had anything to do with him. Eren looked like he was going to shit himself though. "Would you like to come and get Chinese food with us?" Levi let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. The kid seemed relieved too, it clearly wasn't the question they were both expecting. "Errr, sure? If that's ok with both of you?" The last question was directly aimed at Levi so of course he had to roll his eyes and make a big deal out of seeming reluctant but when Eren grinned at Levi's muttered 'sure'. Levi almost felt like grinning himself... and that scared him shitless.


End file.
